Judge Denies Motion in Curwensville Man’s Sexual Assault Case

CLEARFIELD – A Curwensville man given a lengthy state prison sentence for sexually assaulting a 14-year-old boy asked for a lower sentence during motions court in Clearfield County.

Richard Coy Bennett Jr., 51, 550 McDivitt Rd., Curwensville, pleaded guilty in June to statutory sexual assault, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse/person less than 16-years of age, sexual assault, corruption of minors, indecent assault and sell/furnishing liquor to a minor. He was sentenced by President Judge Fredric J. Ammerman to a total of 15 to 30 years in state prison.

The charges are the result of an incident at Bennett’s residence on March 24, 2013 when Bennett sexually assaulted the boy after giving him alcohol.

Bennett’s attorney, Ronald Collins, filed a motion for the judge to reconsider his sentence. He argued that two of the charges, which had consecutive sentences, should merge because they were part of the same act.

Bennett was given a 10 to 20 years sentence for involuntary deviate sexual intercourse and a five to 10 years consecutive sentence for statutory sexual assault.

First Assistant District Attorney Beau Grove stated that he thought the sentence was appropriate because of the seriousness of the charges. He reminded the judge what the boy’s mother told him during the sentencing hearing about how this had affected her son. She had asked Ammerman to give Bennett the maximum sentence.

Collins said that Bennett entered the plea against his advice because Bennett wanted to save the victim the ordeal of a trial. He noted that Bennett has no prior record and was cooperative with police.

Grove responded that the teen still had to come into the district attorney’s office and discuss the case, which was very embarrassing for him. Bennett’s plea only came the day before the trial.

Ammerman denied the motion.

According to court documents, the victim told police he and Bennett texted back and forth before he agreed to stay at Bennett’s residence for a drinking party. Once there, the victim drank approximately three glasses of Southern Comfort and three beers.

As the night wore on, everyone went to sleep. The victim laid down, fully clothed on a couch and fell asleep. Around 2 a.m. he awoke to find Bennett sitting on the couch. The boy’s jeans and boxer shorts were lying on the floor and Bennett was fondling him. He told Bennett to stop, but Bennett covered his mouth and told him to shut up so he wouldn’t wake anyone. The victim told police that Bennett crawled on top of him, pinned his arms down and sexually assaulted him.

At one point, the victim was able to move one of his hands and strike Bennett. The victim immediately grabbed his clothing and ran into a bathroom. He got dressed and was able to sneak out of the home. He sent messages to family members who picked him up.

When Bennett was questioned by police, he confessed to touching the boy inappropriately and performing oral sex on him. He said it was only “real quick” and the boy was begging him to do it.